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Chapter 8

Nervous System Part

1 Lecture Outline
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Nervous System
Figure 8.1
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Nervous System Functions

1. Receiving sensory input
2. Integrating information
3. Controlling muscles and glands
4. Maintaining homeostasis
5. Establishing and maintaining mental activity
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Main Divisions of Nervous System 1

Central nervous system (CNS)

• brain and spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
• All the nervous tissue outside the CNS
 Sensory division
• Conducts action potentials from sensory receptors
to the CNS
Motor division
• Conducts action potentials to effector organs, such
as muscles and glands
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Main Divisions of Nervous System 2

Somatic nervous system

• Transmits action potentials from the CNS to skeletal
 muscles.

Autonomic nervous system

• Transmits action potentials from the CNS to cardiac
muscle, smooth muscle, and glands
Enteric nervous system
• A special nervous system found only in the digestive
tract.
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Organization of the Nervous System

 Figure
8.2
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Cells of the Nervous System

Neurons
• receive stimuli, conduct action potentials, and
transmit signals to other neurons or effector
organs.

Glial cells
• supportive cells of the CNS and PNS, meaning these
cells do not conduct action potentials. Instead, glial
cells carry out different functions that enhance
 neuron function and maintain normal conditions
within nervous tissue.

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Neurons
A neuron (nerve cell) has a:
• Cell body – which contains a single nucleus
• Dendrite – which is a cytoplasmic extension from
the cell body, that usually receives information from
other neurons and transmits the information to the
 cell body
• Axon – which is a single long cell process that leaves
the cell body at the axon hillock and conducts
sensory signals to the CNS and motor signals away
from the CNS
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Typical Neuron
Figure 8.3
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Structural Types of Neurons 1

Multipolar neurons have many dendrites and a

single axon.
Most of the neurons within the CNS and nearly
all motor neurons are multipolar.
Bipolar neurons have two processes: one
dendrite and one axon.
Bipolar neurons are located in some sensory
 organs, such as in the retina of the eye and in
the nasal cavity.
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Structural Types of Neurons 2

Pseudo-unipolar neurons have a single process

extending from the cell body, which divides into
two processes as short distance from the cell
body.
One process extends to the periphery, and the
other extends to the CNS.
 The two extensions function as a single axon
with small, dendrite-like sensory receptors at
the periphery.
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Types of Neurons
Figure
 8.4
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Glial Cells 1

Glial cells are the supportive cells of the CNS and

PNS.
Astrocytes serve as the major supporting cells in
the CNS.
Astrocytes can stimulate or inhibit the signaling
activity of nearby neurons and form the blood
brain barrier.
 Ependymal cells line the cavities in the brain
that contains cerebrospinal fluid.
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Glial Cells 2

Microglial cells act in an immune function in the

CNS by removing bacteria and cell debris.
Oligodendrocytes provide myelin to neurons in
the CNS.
 Schwann cells provide myelin to neurons in the
PNS.

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Types of Glial Cells

 Figure 8.5
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Myelin Sheath 1

Myelin sheaths are specialized layers that wrap

around the axons of some neurons, those
neurons are termed, myelinated.
The sheaths are formed by oligodendrocytes in
the CNS and Schwann cells in the PNS.
Myelin is an excellent insulator that prevents
almost all ion movement across the cell
membrane.
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Myelin Sheath
2

Gaps in the myelin sheath, called nodes of

Ranvier, occur about every millimeter.
Ion movement can occur at the nodes of
Ranvier.
Myelination of an axon increases the speed and
efficiency of action potential generation along
 the axon.
Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the myelin
sheath that causes loss of muscle function.
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Unmyelinated Neurons
Unmyelinated axons lack the myelin sheaths.
These axons rest in indentations of the
oligodendrocytes in the CNS and the Schwann
cells in the PNS.
 A typical small nerve, which consists of axons of
multiple neurons, usually contains more
unmyelinated axons than myelinated axons.

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Myelinated and Unmyelinated

Axons
 Figure 8.6
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Organization of Nervous Tissue

The nervous tissue varies in color due to the
abundance or absence of myelinated axons.
 Nervous tissue exists as gray matter and white
matter.
Gray matter consists of groups of neuron cell
bodies and their dendrites, where there is very
little myelin.
White matter consists of bundles of parallel
axons with their myelin sheaths, which are
whitish in color.
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Membrane Potentials
Resting membrane potentials and action potentials
occur in neurons.
These potentials are mainly due to differences in
concentrations of ions across the membrane,
membrane channels, and the sodium-potassium
pump.
Membrane channels include leak channels and gated
channels.
Leak channels are always open, whereas gated
channels are generally closed, but can be opened due
to voltage or chemicals.
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Leak Membrane Channels

Leak channels are always open are and ions can
“leak” across the membrane down their
concentration gradient.
+
Because there are 50 to 100 times more K leak
channels than Na+ leak channels, the resting
+
membrane has much greater permeability to K
than to Na+; therefore, the K+ leak channels have
 the greatest contribution to the resting
membrane potential.

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Gated Membrane Channels

Gated channels are closed until opened by
specific signals.
Chemically gated channels are opened by
neurotransmitters or other chemicals, whereas
voltage-gated channels are opened by a change
 in membrane potential.
When opened, the gated channels can change
the membrane potential and are thus
responsible for the action potential.
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Sodium-Potassium Pump
The sodium-potassium pump compensates for the
constant leakage of ions through leak channels.
The sodium-potassium pump is required to
 +
maintain the greater concentration of Na outside
the cell membrane and K+ inside.
The pump actively transports K+ into the cell and
Na+ out of the cell.
It is estimated that the sodium-potassium pump
consumes 25% of all the ATP in a typical cell and
70% of the ATP in a neuron.
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Resting Membrane Potential 1

The resting membrane potential exists because of:
• The concentration of K+ being higher on the inside of
the cell membrane and the concentration of Na+ being
higher on the outside
• The presence of many negatively charged molecules,
such as proteins, inside the cell that are too large to
exit the cell
• The presence of leak protein channels in the
membrane that are more permeable to K+ than it is to
Na+
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Resting Membrane Potential 2

+ +
Na tends to diffuse into the cell and K tends to
diffuse out.
In order to maintain the resting membrane
potential, the sodium-potassium pump recreates
+ + +
the Na and K ion gradient by pumping Na out of
the cell and K+ into the cell.
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Resting Membrane Potential 3
 Figure 8.7(1)

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Resting Membrane Potential 4

 Figure 8.7(2)
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Resting Membrane Potential 5

 Figure 8.7(3)
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Action Potential 1

Action potentials allow conductivity along nerve

or muscle membrane, similar to electricity going
 along an electrical wire.
The channels responsible for the action potential
are voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels, which are
closed during rest (resting membrane potential).
When a stimulus is applied to the nerve cell,
following neurotransmitter activation of
+
chemically gated channels, Na channels open
very briefly, and Na+ diffuses quickly into the cell.
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Action Potential 2
This movement of Na+, which is called a local current,
causes the inside of the cell membrane to become
positive, a change called depolarization.

If depolarization is not strong enough, the Na+ channels

close again, and the local potential disappears without
being conducted along the nerve cell membrane.
+
If depolarization is large enough, Na enters the cell so
that the local potential reaches a threshold value.
This threshold depolarization causes voltage-gated
Na+ channels to open, generally at the axon hillock.
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Action Potential 3

The opening of these channels causes a massive, 600-

fold increase in membrane permeability to Na+.
Voltage-gated K+ channels also begin to open. As more
Na+ enters the cell, depolarization continues at a much
faster pace, causing a brief reversal of charge – the
inside of the cell membrane becomes positive relative
to the outside of the cell membrane. The charge reversal
causes Na+ channels to close and Na+ then stops entering
 the cell.
During this time, more K+ channels are opening and
K+ leaves the cell, resulting in repolarization.
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Action Potential 4

At the end of repolarization, the charge on the cell

membrane briefly becomes more negative than the
resting membrane potential; this condition is called
hyperpolarization and occurs briefly.
Action potentials occur in an all-or-none fashion
 All-or-none refers to the fact that if threshold is
reached, an action potential occurs; if the threshold
is not reached, no action potential occurs.
The sodium-potassium pump assists in restoring the
resting membrane potential.
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Action Potential 5
Figure 8.9
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Action Potential 6
Figure 8.8 (1)
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Action Potential 7

Figure 8.8 (2)

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Action Potential 8

Figure 8.8 (3)

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 Unmyelinated and Myelinated
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Axon Action Potentials

Action potentials are conducted slowly in
unmyelinated axons and more rapidly in
myelinated axons.
Action potentials along unmyelinated axons
occur along the entire membrane.
Action potentials on myelinated axons occur
in a jumping pattern at the nodes of
Ranvier.
 This type of action potential conduction is
called saltatory conduction.
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Unmyelinated Axon Conduction

 Figure 8.10
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Myelinated Axon Conduction

 Figure 8.11
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 Axon Conduction Speed
The speed of action potential conduction varies
widely, even among myelinated axons; it is based
on the diameter of axon fibers.
Medium-diameter, lightly myelinated axons,
characteristic of autonomic neurons, conduct
action potentials at the rate of about 3 to 15
meters per second (m/s).
Large-diameter, heavily myelinated axons conduct
 action potentials at the rate of 15 to 120 m/s.
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Synapse 1

A neuroneuronal synapse is a junction where the

axon of one neuron interacts with another
neuron.
The end of the axon forms a presynaptic terminal
and the membrane of the next neuron forms the
postsynaptic membrane, with a synaptic cleft
 between the two membranes.
Chemical substances called neurotransmitters
are stored in synaptic vesicles in the presynaptic
terminal.
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Synapse 2

An action potential reaching the presynaptic

terminal causes voltage-gated Ca2+ channels to
+
open, and Ca2 moves into the cell.
 +
This influx of Ca2 causes
the release of
neurotransmitters by exocytosis from the
presynaptic terminal.
The neurotransmitters diffuse across the synaptic
cleft and bind to specific receptor molecules on
the postsynaptic membrane.
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Synapse 3

The binding of neurotransmitters to these membrane

 +
receptors causes chemically gated channels for Na ,
K+, or Cl− to open or close in the postsynaptic
membrane.
The specific channel type and whether or not the
channel opens or closes depend on the type of
neurotransmitter in the presynaptic terminal and the
type of receptors on the postsynaptic membrane.
The response may be either stimulation or inhibition
of an action potential in the postsynaptic cell.
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 Synapse 4

+
If Na channels open, the postsynaptic cell
becomes depolarized, and an action potential will
result if threshold is reached.
If K+ or Cl− channels open, the inside of the
postsynaptic cell tends to become more negative,
or hyperpolarized, and an action potential is
inhibited from occurring.
There are many neurotransmitters, with the best
 known being acetylcholine and norepinephrine.
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Synapse 5

Neurotransmitters do not normally remain in the

synaptic cleft indefinitely, thus their effects are short
duration.
These substances become reduced in concentration
when they are either rapidly broken down by enzymes
within the synaptic cleft or are transported back into the
presynaptic terminal.
 An enzyme called acetylcholinesterase breaks down the
acetylcholine.
Norepinephrine is either actively transported back into
the presynaptic terminal or broken down by enzymes.
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The Synapse
 Figure 8.12
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Reflex
A reflex is an involuntary reaction in response to a
stimulus applied to the periphery and transmitted
to the CNS.
Reflexes allow a person to react to stimuli more
quickly than is possible if conscious thought is
involved.
Most reflexes occur in the spinal cord or
brainstem rather than in the higher brain
 centers. A reflex arc is the neuronal pathway by
which a reflex occurs and has five basic
components.
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Reflex Arc Components

1. A sensory receptor
2. A sensory neuron
3. Interneurons, which are neurons located
between and communicating with two other
 neurons
4. A motor neuron
5. An effector organ (muscles or glands).
Note: The simplest reflex arcs do not involve
interneurons.
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Reflex Arc
 Figure 8.13
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 Neuronal Pathway (Converging)
The CNS has simple to complex neuronal
pathways.
A converging pathway is a simple pathway in
which two or more neurons synapse with the
same postsynaptic neuron.
This allows information transmitted in more than
one neuronal pathway to converge into a single
pathway.
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Neuronal Pathway (Diverging)

A diverging pathway is a simple pathway in which
an axon from one neuron divides and synapses
with more than one other postsynaptic neuron.
This allows information transmitted in one
neuronal pathway to diverge into two or more
pathways.
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Neuronal Pathways
 Figure
8.14
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Summation 1

A single presynaptic action potential usually does not

cause a sufficiently large postsynaptic local potential to
reach threshold and produce an action potential in the
target cell.
Many presynaptic action potentials are needed in a
process called summation.
Summation of signals in neuronal pathways allows
integration of multiple subthreshold local
potentials.
 Summation of the local potentials can bring the
membrane potential to threshold and trigger an action
potential.
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Summation 2

Spatial summation occurs when the local potentials

originate from different locations on the postsynaptic
neuron—for example, from converging pathways.
Temporal summation occurs when local potentials
overlap in time.
 This can occur from a single input that fires rapidly,
which allows the resulting local potentials to overlap
briefly.
Spatial and temporal summation can lead to stimulation
or inhibition, depending on the type of signal.
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